New continuous emissions monitoring system (CEMS) technology has been installed at two CS Energy power stations to provide us with more accurate and reliable information about our emissions.
The improved CEMS technology has been progressively fitted to Kogan Creek and Callide C power stations over the past 18 months and will be used for reporting our emissions to various state and federal bodies.
CS Energy’s Head of Environment, Brendan Monckton said the new technology (pictured at below left) replaced previous CEMS at the two power stations.
“CEMS technology has improved significantly since Callide C and Kogan Creek were commissioned,” Mr Monckton said.
“The new CEMS technology that we are using has improved our real-time emissions monitoring and provides more accurate emissions data.”
Under our environmental licence, CS Energy monitors and reports on emissions such as nitrogen oxides and particulate matter.
“The new CEMS is also monitoring for additional parameters such as oxygen and carbon dioxide, which enables us to better monitor boiler conditions and make adjustments to improve the units’ efficiency.
“Ensuring we operate our sites within their environmental licence is a high priority for CS Energy and we are always looking for improvements in technology that can help us deliver outcomes like this,” Mr Monckton said.
Emissions management at CS Energy
CS Energy understands our responsibility to operate in strict accordance within our emissions limits.
Callide C and Kogan Creek are two of the newest and most efficient coal-fired power stations in the National Electricity Market and feature:
- modern fabric filter bag technology to capture 99.9 percent of the fly ash we produce before it is released into the air
- supercritical boiler technology, which means they operate at a higher efficiency and have lower greenhouse emissions compared to most coal-fired power stations in Australia.
All of CS Energy’s power stations use low sulfur coal, which means our sulfur dioxide emissions are low compared to world standards.
CS Energy conducts regular maintenance of our equipment for controlling emissions. For example, the photo at right shows maintenance works carried out on fabric filter bag equipment during an overhaul at Kogan Creek Power Station.
We report our nitrogen oxides (NOx), particulates and sulfur dioxide (SO2) emissions annually to the National Pollutant Inventory.
CS Energy’s coal-fired power stations also produce greenhouse emissions as a result of the coal combustion process used to generate electricity. We report our annual greenhouse emissions, energy consumption and energy production to the Clean Energy Regulator as part of the National Greenhouse and Energy Reporting (NGER) Scheme.
Australia’s changing generation mix
CS Energy’s coal-fired power stations will play an important role for many years to come in providing reliable electricity as the economy transitions to a greater use of renewable energy.
In FY2019, CS Energy’s power stations sent out more than 10 per cent of the electricity generated in the National Electricity Market (NEM).
CS Energy’s strategy is built around maximising the life and value of our existing assets, while also diversifying our business to include new sources of energy as the energy industry transitions to a lower carbon future. This includes investing in renewable energy through offtake agreements and partnering with QUT and its collaborators on a green hydrogen project.